The herein protocol is based on the results of one former clinical trial conducted by our study group showing the considerable efficacy of intravenously administered clarithromycin as an adjuvant to antimicrobial chemotherapy for patients with sepsis, septic shock and respiratory failure in the field of ventilator-associated pneumonia. The proposed clinical trial is based on the need to generalize the application of intravenous clarithromycin in the total of admitted septic patients irrespective of the underlying cause of sepsis.